Many of our 2010 enke forum alumni are heading to various universities around the world this year. Being the first time away from the nest and away from the comfort of lifelong established routines for many – this sense of independence makes it a great time for self discovery.
But how can you make sure that you make the best of your time there and experience it to the fullest?
To help you with this, I attempt a rough and by no means complete guide to varsity life.
1. Diligence
Unlike high school, a lot of the varsity assignments and essays tend to be long term and self monitored until the final submission stage. This means that ‘intelligence’, ‘smarts’ and other things that high achievement is often attributed to, will count less than effective time management, planning and diligence – the earnest and persistent application of oneself to a task – in everything that you do.
2. Get Involved
A wide variety of extra-curricular activities are available to varsity students; examples of these whether enterprise oriented such as Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE), charity oriented i.e. Reach out And Give (RAG) ranging all the way to sports teams, to forums such as enke, to student employment opportunities that are specifically designed to be student run.
Involvement in such activities provides a spectrum of advantages apart from occupying your time positively;
- Provides hands on application experience during the recruitment phase that will come in handy when entering the job market such as C.V. drafting and interviewing.
- These really boost your C.V and show qualities such as achievement orientation, a well rounded individual, and ability to communicate and work effectively in a team environment that employers are looking for.
3. Long Term Orientation
Unlike majority of high school where forethought can be often limited to tomorrow’s homework, next week’s quiz, and eventually Matric.
Questions such as
- Do I want to do my Honours?
- What do I want to specialize in?
- What country/firm/industry do I see myself working in?
- How employable am I?
- How can I make myself an asset to future employers?
Are how the right foundation is laid – and the answers to these questions should guide many of the decisions you make such as unit/module choices, networks made with friends, organisations, teachers and peers, the extra – curricular activities you choose get involved in and the grades you target and work for.
4. Balance
Though they will always often spill into each other – the harmony between school, work, travel, extra-curricular and getting to meet and spend time with new interesting people is what makes university life what it is.
Feel free to add in what I missed or add to what I’ve managed to come up with.
All in all; the common phrase – that university was/is/will be the best time of your life – is not an exaggeration. So make sure to savour every moment
2 Comments
Awesome work, King. I wish I’d read this before launching into my haphazard, unnecessarily long degree! The one other thing I wish someone had told me was to find people who are out there and doing the stuff you want to do and ask them questions. Ideally, get them to mentor you, let you come and check out (do an internship at?) their work.
I was told a story yesterday about a boy who wanted to be a doctor because he wanted to drive a ‘benz. So a friend told him to go to the hospital, do a week volunteer, unpaid work – shadow the doctors, push trolleys, talk to the nurses – see what you actually have to do to get that ‘benz. The guy got through the week (pretty impressive!) and decided he wanted to be a geologist.
Don’t be the person who does 7 years of med school *then* discovers they don’t like being a doctor.
You know Pip, just after I posted this I thought of something along those lines that. The importance of having people at various stages ahead of you.
Whereas someone just one or two years ahead will be helpful with difficult assignments and units etc, one way into there career can give you the actual job market experience – and as you point out, there’s really no substitute to actually waking up every morning and doing it yourself!